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A Blog for those who have fun with science fiction, popular culture etc. I'll be following, movies and TV. Especially fond of 12 Monkeys, The X-Files, Orphan Black, Fringe, Dr. Who, James Bond, and the like.

12 Monkeys - Jennifer

12 Monkeys took a huge step forward for the SyFy network with the introduction of Jennifer Goines. Not only did she provide the spark the series needed, she propelled the narrative into dark and fascinating places.

Emily Hampshire plays Jennifer and she has credits that include Rookie Blue and Schitts Creek. I'm not sure if she's had to play "full on crazy" for either of those series, and I'm guessing not, but she certainly found her niche here. (She is going to appear in ep. 4 of "Man Seeking Woman." I've seen the first episode of that series and it starts out with "full on crazy" so, you go girl!)

Playing someone that is totally off the wall means more than bugging your eyes out.

Hampshire's take on Jennifer's insanity seems to include a certain sexuality to it. As she clambered over the the restrained Cole she took on a aggressive position that exuded a bit of the Dominatrix to it.

As Cole turned the tables she reacted with glee at being the submissive partner.

Hampshire also imbues her insanity with a bit of joy. It's the joy or overwrought happiness that comes from a very sad place.

Jennifer Goines was there when the "Army of the 12 Monkeys" attacked Markridge and murdered her workmates right in front of her. Obviously, this was very traumatic for Jennifer and has led her to present confines. She retains a semblance of her former life and can clearly recall the event instead having it blacked out from her psyche.

The flashback to the Markridge incident ties in the "Pallid Man" (played by Tom Noonan) and his leadership role of the Army of the 12 Monkeys. He seeks what is called the "Night Room" and whatever deadly secrets it holds. (Jennifer related it as a place of stars?)

This one sequence ties together many threads. The Army itself, it's inside knowledge to the Night Room, Jennifer's bete noir and his leadership role and also the starting point to what has led our story to spin completely out of control and set the future on its apocalyptic path.

That's a lot.

The Pallid Man continues to haunt Jennifer so not only did he see value in sparing her at Markridge but also sees value in keeping in contact with her despite her obvious insanity. Her lucidity to the incident is unfortunate.

Despite all the answers and questions from the Markridge incident, I still take everything with a grain of salt. Did Jennifer unknowingly provide the "Army" with their name? Did she accidentally provide imputes to their cause? How much of this was accidental?

There is one thing we can be certain of, Jennifer's knowledge of the "Night Room" will prove to be invaluable and in this we are drawing perilously close to crackpot theory time.

So here we go!

Jennifer was spared at Markridge for her knowledge of the "Night Room." She is also, of course, the daughter of Leland Goines. By the time 2015 rolls around, Leland Goines is dead and Jennifer stands to inherit his fortune and takeover a leadership role at Markridge. With this leadership will come intimate knowledge of the "Night Room." Cole's desperation to head off the 12 Monkeys will lead Jennifer to look further into the "Night Room" and quite possibly afford Cole its location. Since the Pallid Man is watching Jennifer and probably Cole, he will learn its location thereby giving him the keys to the apocalyptic kingdom.

"Time is cruel, Mr. Cole." So cruel that the time traveling Cole may be complicit in starting the apocalypse he was sent to prevent.

Ouch.

I could also posit that Cole may have inadvertently brought some of this knowledge back to 1987 where he tips his hand to the still living Leland Goines. Goines did tell Cole of the 12 Monkeys back in the pilot episode even before Cole learned of it in 2015.

What Jones failed to tell Cole was that time was a "cruel bitch."

Odds and ends

You had to love the "Dutch Angle" director David Grossman employed as the Pallid Man and his army exited the sub-basement of the sanatorium. It lent itself to an eerie disjointedness that seem to set the world off balance.

Grossman's shot of the Pallid Man with Jennifer in the sanatorium was expertly framed also.

Jonesing for clues.

Interesting to hear from Jones they are still in the nascent stages of time travel. One could imagine that with more experience traveling to the past the technology will creep into the future therefore eliminating the need for more power.

I sense a red herring here. With so much time travel the cause and effect applecart will be turned on it's ear. Labeling the 12 Monkeys as religious fanatics or terrorists may be a self fulfilling prophecy. Their origination may have come from something wholly different and only took on it's current definition thanks to the interference from he future.

Such as the transmission from Cassandra Railly. Information like this takes on a life of its own and gives import to things that were once held insignificant.

Schull things

Felicity Smoak, what are you doing here??? Arrow fans will get the incredible resemblance between Schull's Railly in disguise and Smoak from Arrow. Hey, they both come to the rescue!

A nice moment between Cole and Railly. Jones tried to keep them apart but Cole values their partnership. I wonder if Jones' reticence times in with Railly's fate. Cole visits her in the future and takes the watch off her skeletal frame. Could he have borrowed it from her living personage if not for their relationship?

Speaking of pretty, doesn't Noah Bean's Aaron look like a cross between David Bowie and Brandon Routh?

Yes?

Humor Alert!

Good to see some pet names don't change in the future.

Including the gallows humor Cole employs to prove his point to Ramse.

You had to laugh at the inclusion of the "Great Leader" especially on the heels of the ruckus caused by Seth Rogan's "The Interview."Creep factor.

Nothing says impending doom like the "canaries in the coalmine" inclusion. I guess all is not safe in the future still!

I'm not familiar with this claymation series that was playing on the sanatorium TV. What a spooky visage. It claimed to be an angel named Satan. It was right after that we were introduced to Jennifer and then the Pallid Man. Not a coincidence.

Gulp! Who's this scary dude that approaches Jennifer in her vision flashback?

Her father coming out of the Night Room? The Pallid Man coming out of the Night Room? No Night Room but one of both men visiting the Sanatorium? The gas mask seems old school. How far back does Jennifer's nightmare extend?

Comments

Great post, as always... I don't analyze nearly as much as you do on these shows (except maybe for Doctor Who), but I like your theory for Cole possibly being the cause.

Overall, I'm likeing this show more and more. The characters are showing more and more depth, the plot is a teensy bit weak sometimes, in my humble opinion, but hey. No actually it's not the plot but the character motivation. Obviously Cole and Reilly have feelings of some kind for each other, but it feels a bit too instantaneous. Boom, outta the future and zing, she waits a year for him (or was it 3?).

Really?

But pish posh that's all small marbles. The overall thing is really very cool and I do love me some time travel. Nice to see a Fringe alum in the mix too... Charlie is back! Yay!

The scene in the war bunker made me go "oh good grief", but then they made it work very well into the story. Well done, that was very good. Extremely good, in fact. It seems that from several of the scenes we've seen so far, time has a kind of "immune system" and can sort of heal itself, to a point. And the fact that Cole doesn't disappear could end up being more meaningful than just an end-result manifestation of "success". We'll see how that goes.

The creepy scene with Cole and the Monkey Girl was very riviting. It could have been something we've seen multiple times, but they made it their own.

I feel horrible saying this, but (though I still watch it) this show is slowly surpassing Sleepy Hollow for me. So far anyway.

Once again, great ideas Dave! I hope we get a few seasons to see how it all works out!

Still on "Double Secret Probation" Ingrid. But they are getting there.

Yes, I still want to know why Cassie waited for him. I've heard they are going to fill in those years but, c'mon, she lost everything. She can't think he's that hot. ;) I wonder if she learned something independently that spurred her on. It would have to be pretty good!

Awesome use of "pish posh." Do you think "Bug girl" is with Charlie in the future?

If Cole doesn't disappear then it means he's failed and they'll never find the root of the virus.

---------------------OR!-------------------------

It means every time they time travel they've created a new future where the root cause in the past is different. Nooooo!

If you believe in time splinters or time lines or as Fringe would have it alternate universes/timelines, then you may get one possible future where they succeed. Let's live in that future.

Slowly creeping up on Sleepy Hollow? Yikes! I bet they get renewed and rejigger their philosophy. (Crackpot theory!)